There's always a reason for everything
by PINKDIAMOND4000
Summary: This is my first english story, so don't expect good grammar or anything, Soren/Mia centric, with some other pairings and OC's Some humor and romance.  Rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This is another fixed version for chapter one, thanks a lot **Dayraider **he's awsome if you like yaio, you know were to go. *ahem* Hope that you guys enjoy this chapter.

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**CHAPTER1: A FAVOR**

It was a warm summer's day at the mercenary fort. It had been six months since the mad king's defeat and the fort had recently been completed. Their leader, Ike, had given up his title as Lord and decided to remain the commander of the mercenaries.

He was walking along the corridor when he passed a window and stopped. Peering out the window, he got lost in thought, _"Such a nice day to train._" Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of his sister, who had an embittered look across her face.

"Brother, there's something I need to tell you right now," Mist said.

"Alright, what is it?" Ike asked.

"Well, it's just that…I'm tired of doing all the chores by myself. I mean, brother, I know that everyone is busy with their training and battles, but I can't do this all by myself any longer," she said. "Of course, Oscar lends me a hand once in a while, but still…"

"I see," Ike said. _"She's got a point,"_ he thought to himself. _"She does everything alone, well Oscar helps her sometimes, but it's not a bad idea to ask the others for help. Wait, I have an idea."_ He then smiled at her. "Mist, don't worry about it. I have something in mind," he said. "Why don't you wait until dinner to discuss it with everyone, ok?"

"Okay," she said, hugging her brother. "Thank you."

It was dinner time and everyone was sitting at the large table, which was straining beneath the full load of food. Ike was sitting in his chair and decided that now was a good time to bring it up. Opening his mouth to speak, he was surprised by Rolf jumping to his feet and then quickly kneeling down before him.

"Ike…" Rolf quickly said. "It wasn't my intention. I swear, it was Boyd's fault!"

"Boyd's fault?" Ike asked, confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rolf looked nervous. "Well, you see…we were playing hide and seek, and we had this idea to take your sword for a while." Rolf stammered. "It was in my hands as I was hiding from Boyd, but I tripped and fell in the mud, it flew and…I lost…it…"

"What?" Ike exclaimed, almost yelling. "You took my sword…The Ettar?"

"Yes," Boyd quickly said, trying to calm his commander. "But I found it and cleaned it. It's in your room right now, so don't worry."

"We're sorry," Rolf and Boyd said in unison, ashamed of their actions.

"It's okay," Ike said, calming down. "Since it's safe and sound, and nobody's hurt, I'll let it pass. But, if it happens again, you guys will be in big trouble, am I clear enough?"

Rolf and Boyd quickly nodded.

"Yes, now back to what I was about to say," Ike started.

"What is it?" Soren asked. "Is it a new mission?"

Ike chuckled. "No Soren, what I have to say doesn't have anything to do with missions or battles."

"What is it then?" Boyd asked, worried.

"Well," Ike started. "This morning, Mist was complaining about…"

"Complaining?" Shinon interrupted. "What about? Does she want candy or something?"

"Shinon!" Mist exclaimed, getting mad. "I'm not a little girl!"

Ike raised his hands. "Look, this isn't the moment to argue. When I'm finished talking, everyone can give me their opinions and complaints."

Everyone held their tongue and looked at Ike.

"As I was saying," Ike started. "Mist was complaining that she's tired of doing all the chores alone, and she's got a point. We're always training and busy, but we need to help her. So, I think that everyone should help at something. Starting tomorrow, each of you will do a chore."

"What?" a collective shout went up.

"Like you heard," Ike said, folding his arms and smiling. "Starting tomorrow, everyone will be doing the chores, not just Mist."

Shinon stood up. "Wait a moment. Are you crazy? We are mercenaries, not housewives."

"Ike, I really hate to admit it, but Shinon is right," Soren said. "Do you expect us to fight with a broom, a spoon and a pot?"

"Of course not Soren, that's ridiculous," Ike laughed. "Even for fighting, what I meant is that everyone is going to help with the chores. Since Mist is tired of doing them alone, we have to help."

"Ha!" Shinon spat. "I'd rather be dead before being a housewife."

Ike looked at Shinon with a serious look on his face. "If that's how you feel, Shinon, then there's the door right in front of you...you're free to go." he said. "As for everyone else, if you don't want to cooperate, I'll reduce your pay. Tomorrow we're going to chose chores for each of you. As for now, you're free to go to your rooms and sleep. That's all…goodnight."

Everyone silently got to their feet and shuffled out of the dining room. Everyone, except for Mist and Ike.

"Thank you, brother," Mist said, approaching her brother. "I hope that now they will lend me a hand. Goodnight." She then walked out of the dining hall, toward her room.

Ike slowly stood. As he made his way to his room, he started thinking. _"I hope I did the right thing. I mean…everyone has to help. Mist shouldn't be expected to do everything, but how am I going to choose the chores without being unfair?"_

He was so distracted as he walked, that he almost tripped over a small box. He stared at it for a while and with a grin, picked it up and took it to his room. "_This little box will be useful,"_ he thought to himself as he put the box on his bedside table. He then laid back and immediately fell asleep.

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**AN:** So how was this version? Did you like it or hate it? Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:**Hello guys! This is the edited version of chapter 2, the one responsible for this is: **Dayraider **Yays for him! Enjoy ^^

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**CHAPTER 2: THE CHORES**

The next morning, Ike rose and dressed, remembering to take the small box before leaving his room. Walking slowly as to take his time, he bumped into Boyd who was also on his way to the dining room.

"Hello Ike, how are you?" The green-haired youth asked. "Why are you walking so slowly? Don't you want breakfast?" His eyes then fell upon the box. "What's in the box?"

"I'm fine," Ike answered. "I'll tell you what's in the box after everyone has finished their breakfast. "

Boyd giggled. "Oh well, Um…could we walk a little faster? I'm starving," he said, still eying the box curiously.

"Alright," Ike laughed as the two made their way toward breakfast.

When they arrived, they found some of the others already eating. Ike set the box down on the table as he sat to eat. The others stopped and stared at it as Ike began eating, asking what it was, but Ike simply raised his hand and told them that they would have to wait until after breakfast.

Quickly finishing eating, Soren was the first to speak. "Alright Ike, we're done. Now could you tell us what's in the box?"

"Okay," Ike said. "Do you remember the conversation we all had last night?"

"Of course we do," Shinon sneered. "Starting today we're to be housewives."

"Shinon! For the love of…" Ike swore. "We are not going to be housewives. We are simply going to be lending Mist a hand with the chores."

"Yeah right," Shinon said sarcastically.

Ike let out a sigh and looked at the box. He then explained that the box would help decide who would be doing what chore. Mist would be writing the jobs on small pieces of paper and then they would take turns drawing them, guaranteeing total randomness. He then concluded that this was the fairest way and nobody should complain about it.

"Everybody clear?" Ike asked as he scanned the table.

Everyone sighed and nodded, each praying that they would get the easiest chore.

"Brother, everything is set," Mist said, dropping a handful of little slips into the box.

Shinon rolled his eyes. "This is so stupid!"

"Well Shinon, since you are so affected, why don't you go first?" Ike said with a small grin on his face.

"What?" Shinon exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. "You little….alright!" He then strode up to Ike, clearly annoyed. Reaching into the box he pulled out a small piece of paper and read it. The expression on his face was that of pure anger, clearly showing that he picked something particularly bad.

Curious, Boyd made his way before Shinon. "Well? What did you get?" he asked with a grin.

"There's no way I'm going to tell you!" Shinon glared.

"C'mon, I want to know!" Boyd insisted.

"No…way!" repeated Shinon, clearly angry.

"Fine…" Boyd muttered as he turned to sit down. He then suddenly turned and ran past Shinon, who was trying to convince Ike to let him draw another slip of paper, and yanked the slip from his fingers. Running back to his seat, he glanced at the paper and started howling with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Shinon seethed.

"It's just….that you….have to clean….the bathrooms!" Boyd managed between fits of laughter.

"Really?" Titania asked, trying not to laugh. "You have to clean the bathrooms?

"Yes! Happy? You'll pay for this, damn cave man!" Shinon yelled.

"What did you call me?" Boyd shouted back, jumping to his feet.

"What you heard, pig!" Shinon exclaimed, notching an arrow in his bow.

"Oh! Looking for a fight?" The green-haired youth shouted, pulling out his axe. "I'll cut your face in two!"

"Not if I kill you first!" bellowed an enraged Shinon, raising his bow.

"Shinon! Don't you dare shoot that arrow and Boyd, lower your axe. NOW!" Titania exclaimed, bravely stepping between the two.

"Whatever," Shinon muttered, un-notching his arrow and stashing it back into his quiver. "But next time…there'll be no one to get in the way." Glaring at Titania, he then strode out of the room.

"Okay," Boyd said to Titania as he lowered his axe and sat down. "Only because you asked me."

"Thank you, Titania," Ike said.

Sighing, Titania took her seat. "You're welcome, Ike. I'll keep them apart for a while. You can continue now."

Ike picked up the box. "Okay Boyd, your turn."

The youth stepped up and withdrew a slip of paper. "Alright!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to be sweeping the yard. For a moment I thought I'd have to help Shinon."

"Lucky…" muttered the youngest archer. "I wanted to get an easy one."

"Calm down, Rolf," Ike said as he showed the box to the boy. "I'm sure there are other easy ones. Here, draw."

"Okay," the youth said, reaching in and drawing a slip of paper. Reading, a smile slowly crept across his face.

"Well? What did you get?" Boyd asked.

Chuckling with glee, Rolf looked at his brother. "All I need to do is set and clear the table every day."

"What?" exclaimed Boyd. "That has to be the easiest one!"

"Sorry brother," Rolf snickered as he walked back to his chair and sat down.

Ike shook the box. "Okay Gatrie, your turn."

Gatrie stood before his commander and quietly took a slip. Slowly he looked down and silently walked back to his chair.

"Gatrie, what did you get?" an annoyed Shinon asked, walking back into the room.

The blonde leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Oh, I just have to sweep the corridors."

"Okay…Rhys, your next," Ike said holding out the box.

The Bishop approached, and like everyone else, cautiously drew a slip of paper. He was clearly not happy with the results.

"Rhys, are you alright?" asked Mist. "What did you get?"

"Wash the clothes," was the simple reply.

"Don't worry Rhys, you won't be the only one with that chore. Washing the clothes is a two person job," Mist said with a smile, trying to make him feel better.

Rhys smiled. "Thank you, Mist," he softly said.

Ike shook the box and held it out. "Okay Soren, it's your turn."

The sage walked up and withdrew a slip of paper and showed it to Ike.

"Okay, looks like Soren is going to clean the rooms," Ike said with a smile. He then looked at Titania and held up the box. "Alright, it's your turn."

The redhead strode up to him and withdrew a slip of paper. Reading it, she smiled and looked at Rhys. "Looks like I'm your partner in laundry," she said.

"Mia, it's your turn," Ike said, holding up the box.

Just as the others did, she took a slip and read it, a smile crossing her face. "Okay, I'm helping Soren with the rooms."

Ike held up the box and faced Oscar. "You're the last one," he said, grinning.

Smiling, the paladin approached Ike and took the last slip of paper. Reading it he sighed. "I'm stuck in the kitchen again. I'm the last one so I have to wash the dishes. You know Ike, this was a very good idea," Oscar said. "We all needed to be more helpful."

"He's right, brother," Mist said. "I was tired of doing the chores myself."

Eventually, everyone went their own way to perform their duties. Soren and Mia made it to the first room, Gatrie's. His room was in total chaos and looked like a tornado had swept on through. The sheets were on the floor, his underwear on the night table, and the pillow on top of the garbage can.

"Oh goodness," Soren softly said. "This room is a disaster zone."

"Well, all the rooms are in the same condition so don't think this one will be any worse than the others," Mia said excitedly. "Maybe we can have some fun with it."

Soren glared. "Do you think that there's a way to actually have fun while we clean this mess?" Soren asked, getting annoyed.

"Oh c'mon Soren," Mia giggled. "You don't have to be like that. Work isn't always boring. What we need to do is find a way to make it fun."

"Mia, work is work. There's no way to have fun while doing it," the sage disagreed. "Why are you always such an optimist?"

"Well, one of us has to be," Mia said as she started cleaning. "We're going to be doing this for a long time."

"Alright, let's just stop talking and get this place cleaned," Soren said as he started making the bed.

Across the house, Shinon was cleaning the toilet, a scowl across his face. _"I need to find a way to get my revenge on that damn cave man, but how?"_ he thought. Suddenly, a thought entered his mind as a smile crept across his face. _"This will be perfect."_

Later that day, Boyd was sweeping the yard, stopping when he realized that he was starving. Looking up, he saw Oscar walking by, carrying a large bag of food toward the kitchen. "Oscar, what's with the bag?"

"Oh, hi Boyd," Oscar replied. "Everyone's going to be hungry after their chores, so I decided to get a head start on lunch."

"That's a great idea," Boyd laughed. "Because I'm starved now. Is there any way that you could hurry up?"

"It will be done when it's done," Oscar chuckled as he continued walking. As he entered the kitchen, he saw Ike up to his elbows in dishwater.

"Oscar! When did you get here?" Ike said, surprised.

"Don't worry; I just came by to prepare lunch. Want to help?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how I could help you," Ike replied

Oscar smiled. "Not to worry, I'll find something easy for you."

"Alright," Ike replied as he began to follow Oscar's instructions.

Down the corridor, Gatrie was busy sweeping the floor. Worried that Shinon would cause some trouble, he decided that tonight, the two of them would hit the local bar.

With the mercenaries busy with their chores, Mist had time to clean the library. Normally Soren would be the one to do this, but as he was busy with Mia, she gladly started on the books.

Titania and Rhys were washing a huge pile of clothes. She was starting to get a little worried as Rhys was getting paler and paler. "Rhys, are you okay?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he replied as he picked up a small pile of clothes.

"Why don't you get some rest, I'll take care of everything else," she said, getting more worried.

"Titania, I'm not made of glass," Rhys replied. "I can do it, don't worry.

"Alright, but if you begin to feel ill, let me know, okay?" she said.

"I will," Rhys said, smiling as he picked up another pile of clothes.

That night, they all sat around the table, weary and hungry from the day's work. Even Soren showed up and joined them as they ate in silence. Then, fed and tired, everyone retired to their rooms, eager to get a good night's sleep.

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**AN:** So what do you think for the chores guys? Was I fair with them, or mean? Anyways if you like my story please leave a review that way I know that some people are interested in what I write.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: So I hope you like this new chapter, so sorry for taking so long, but I work in the mornings and have english classes tuesdays and thursdays in the afternoon, so the mercenaries finally have a new mission, anyways there`s a new character.

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**CAPITULO 3: A NEW MISSION**

A week just passed, since the mercenaries started to help with the chores and they were getting tired of it; it had been so long since the last time they had a mission. Actually they were getting used to do the chores and that scared them the most. Everyday that passed they were feeling more and more like House Wives, until one day , Mist got a letter.

"Brother! Brother" -Said the Valkiryie shouting

"What is it Mist? Why are you shouting like that?"

"Look! Some men gave me this letter, they asked me to deliver it to you, and that was very important that you read it"

"Let me see it. -The Bluehead read the letter and then he smiled. "Mist! Go look for Soren and Titania now!"

"Alright". The Valkyrie ran toward the library, where Soren and Titania were organizing some documents, when she arrived, she tried to tell them but, she ran too much and was hardly breathing.

"Mist? Are you OK?

"I´m... Fine... Titania... Mi brother is looking for you..." -Said the Valkyrie hardly breathing

"Did something bad happened?" -Asked the sage.

"I don´t think so. This morning, some guys came to me and gave me a letter, and they asked me to give it to my brother. I did just as I was told and when he finished reading the letter he asked me to go look for you."

"Soren lets go. It sounds important"

"Alrigth, but I think I know what´s this about. So, Where´s Ike?" -Said the sage with a small grin in his face.

"He´s waiting for you in the messhall"

Ike was sitting on the chair, reading the letter, again, and then Soren, Titania and Mist came through the door; waiting for their Commander explanatio.

"Ike. Mist told us about the letter. So. What is it about?" -Asked the red paladin.

"They want to hire us. There are some bandids that are doing bad things in Toha and they want us to ger rid of them"

"A mission? I don´t remember the last time we had one"

"_I knew it! _So, In what way will benefit us this mission? Because we need some things: like food, medecins, healing staves, weapons and some tomes."

"They´ll pay us, I´m sure of that, but for now I need everyone here. So I can explain them about the new mission"

The mercenaries, were assambled in the mess hall and they didn´t know the why, they were getting worried an hour had passed and Ike wasn´t there, until he came through the door and started to explain them.

"We are been hired"

-"A new mission! Finally! –Said a happy Shinon.

"Yes, Toha is having problems with some bandids and is our duty to whipe them out, so prepare yourselves, because tonight we are parting to Toha."

"All right! -They all agreed with a happy face.

When they arrived in Toha, they found the Mayor, he was the one who asked them for help.

"The letter says, that we need to whipe the bandids out correct?" -Asked Ike.

"Yes. Those bandids are torturing us! We need your help"

"All right, but you must pay a good amount of gold after we finish our job." -Said Ike grining.

"We´ll pay you, don´t worry about that, just whipe them out of here, I´m begging you!" -The mayor was begging now.

"All righ.

It was allready lat, and the mercenaries were sleeping in the Inn. Sudenly they heard screams, and all the mercenaries went out to se what was happening. The bandids where attacking everyone in Toha. The mercenaries prepared themselves for battles and went to the battle field. They noticed 6 sages, 10 snipers, 3 warriors, 3 thieves, 5 swordmasters, 2 palandins and a berserker (Who was the leader).

"Soren? What´s the plan?" -Asked Ike.

"It´s very simple: Titania and Oscar will handle the snipers, Shinon and Rolf will hide in the bushes and kill the sages, Gatrie you have a good defence so I´m sure you can handle the paladins, Ike you´ll go for the leader, Mia can figth the warrios, and I´ll handle the sowrdmasters since they have low magic resistence."

"Good!" -And with that the mercenaries started the battle.

Titania rode her horse, took our her axe, and trew it to the 5 of 10 paladins in the left line, but one of them shot an arrow at her and she avoided easily and killed him, meanwhile Oscar with this lance was killing the ones in the right line.

Gatrie with his silver lance was impalling the palinds one by one. Shinon and Rolf were hiding in the bushes, it was easy for them to kill the sages. Boyd with this axe was cutting the thives in pieaces.

Mia was fighting with the warriors, with her incredible speed, she allready killed two of them, this one blocke her sword wit his axe, but she step back, charged her sword and casted Astra, it was over in an instant. Soren was having troubles with the swordmasters, he killed 3 easily, but the other two were harder to hit with his magic, he was casting his Elwind spell, and a one of the swordmaster almost cut his neck, but Soren avoided him and trew the spell at him and he died. The other one ran fast at him , Soren was fastening his spell but he knew he woudn´t make it in time, but for his luck Mia ran like the speed of sound and with her Astra killed the last one.

"Woah, they almost got you back there Soren, you really should pay more atention to your surroundings"

"But you help me right?" -Said Soren

"Is true but that doesn´t mean that I´ll make it in time, again, you should be careful or you´ll die." -Mia looked concerned.

"I´ll have that in mind" -Said the sage with **The look.**

Meanwhile Ike was fighting with the berserker, this one was good and had a Killer Axe, strong arms, his hair was red as the blood, and had small and sharp blue eyes. Ike ran with his sword towards him, but the Berserker blocked Ike´s sowrd with his Killer Axe.

"You are quite good. What´s you name kid?"

"Same goes for you, my name is Ike"

"I know, my name is Max by the way"

After they told their names they kept fighting, Max tried to hit Ike with his axe, but he avoided it and trew himself in the floor then he rolled over and cut his arm. The Berserker was furious and cut Ike´s leg. Both of them were very good, actually it was hard to say who was wining, when sudenly a Elfire spell burned Max´s back and Ike took this oportunity to trow his sword in the air and do the final strike.

"Aether!"

"Y-You are V-Very good kid..."- And with this the leader died.

"Who´s there?" -Asked the blue haired man.

"You sensed me?"

"Not really but it wasn´t hard to tell, since you were the one who casted that Firel spell. Can you can closer so I can see your face?" -Asked the Commander with a grin in his face.

"All right"

A beautiful girl came out from the bushes, she had long gold hair and big greeen eyes, she was wearing a short, dress, it was red with some laces, in the torso, and she was carrying an Elfire tome, she came closer to Ike.

"My name is Estella, I´m a fire Sage. -Answered the blonde girl with a smile.

"My name is Ike and I´m the Commander of the Greil Mercenaires. Why did you helped me?"-Asked the blue haired man with a confused face.

"Those bandids were doing bad things, and when I realized you were helping the mayor to whipe them out of here, I though I could lend you a hand."

"Yes we were hired, anyway, thanks for your help. Are you interested in joining my group? I mean you are good at fire magic and we just have a wind sage, unless you have something else in mind?"

"Not really. Actually i´d be glad to join you, I´m just a traveler."

"Good. We should be heading back to the Inn and meet the others". -Said the blue haired man as he stood.

"OK"

The bandids were killed, Ike and Estella made it to the Inn where the others mercenaries were wainting for their Commander.

"Ike! Who´s this beatiful young lady?" -Asked Gatrie while holding Estella´s hand.

"Her name is Estella and starting today she´ll be part of our group"

-"Nice to meet you"

"And what can you do?" -Asked Soren from his chair.

"Well, I can handle fire magic and use healing staves.

"Cool! Another sage! Hey Soren you are not alone anymore" -Said the sowrdmaster smiling.

"By the way, Ike the Mayor wants to talk with you, whe should head to his house."-Said Titania.

"OK. Titania, Soren, lets go to the Mayor´s house."

When they arrived at the Mayor´s house, he coudn´t put into words how happy he was and as he promised he paid the mercenaris 80,000 gold. And with this the mercenaries said good bye to the Mayor and Toha´s people and went back to their base.

When they arrived, all the mercenaries (including Estella) were siting in the digning room, everyone was happy.

"OK guys, They paid us a lot of gold, I´ll hand it over to Soren so he can administrate it and use it wisely" -Said their Commander as he sat in his chair.

"Ike. There´s something I need to tell you. -Said the Swordmaster with a concerned face, everyone was looking at her.

"What is it Mia?" -Asked the blue haired man.

"Well you see... Soren was almost killed by a swordmaster, but I manage to make it in time and I saved him"

"What? Is that true Soren?"

"Yes. But is all rigth now, donpt worry about it"

"That´s the problem, Soren just knows how to use magic and staves, he´s our strategiest and the bad guys know that so they´ll go after him. I have an idea, Ike Why don´t you let Soren train under me? That way he can learn how to figth in hand to hand battles, witouth getting hurt?" -Said the Swordmaster with her optimist face.

"W-What? There´s no way I´m going to train with her!" -Soren´s face changed from the cold strategiest to a sorprised face.

"That´s a good idea, Soren starting tomorrow you´ll train with Mia."

"No way! -Soren was not happy about it.

"I´m not asking you. That´s an order, and don´t give me that look it´s for your own good." -Said Ike with his Commander tone.

"All rigth.- Said a not very happy Soren."

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AN: So what do you think? Did you like it? Did I wrote something bad? you can only do one thing and that's : REVIEW! REVIEW! and REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

**IMPORTANT!**

**AN:**Ok everyone so sorry for taking so long to upload a chapter, I was having some problems, anyways some things to tell you.

1- Soren will learn to use swords for **SELF DEFENSE **he won´t stop using magic nor will like swords as much as magic (just to make this clear)

2- My OCs are here for a reason.

3-Don´t know how long this fic is going to be but I have 8 chapters in spanish and plan to upload them later.

4-Thanks to my new beta reader she´s awsome and gives me new ideas.

5-And if you have a complain or something just PM ok?

Now read. ;P

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**CHAPTER 4: TRAINING**

The next day, after the mission in Toha, Soren was reading a book in his room. But Soren was mad because Mia volunteer to train him with swords, he did not really like to train his body that sort of thing was for Ike, Boyd and the others; what he needed to train the most was his mind, after all he is the company´s tactician.___"Does she really thinks that I am going to-"_He could not finish the thought because his door was cracked open in an instant.

"Hey Soren! Are you ready to train?" asked the sword master with a smile on her face.

"I am not going to train with you" replied the sage with his cold tone.

"Eeehh. So you are disobeying the commander?

"That does not concern you. If you haven´t told him that I almost died, none of this would have happened."

"Come on Soren is for your own good!" replied the sword master with a smile.

"Just tell me something. Why do you care so much if I get hurt or not? Is not your concern." retorted the sage with a harsh tone.

"Well you need to learn how to defend yourself, you are just bones and the only weapon your weapons are books."

"Then what about Rhys or Estella?" The sage was now facing Mia. "They both use books and magic to defend themselves".

"That´s true but you are the one that almost got killed."

"Look Mia" His tone was soft and clear, it was like he was talking to a child. "I have better things to do than was my time with, so please get out of my room" The sage was giving her the look.

"So you are not coming" asked the sword master with her hand on her hips.

"No. Now get out, I have better things to do"

"Very well then" as the sword master finished the sentence she was looking at Soren with an evil smirk on her face.

"Why are you looking at me like tha-" But before he could finish the sentence, Mia pulled him out of his room and then was taking him to the training camp.

Mia was dragging Soren all the way trough halls, they passed some of the mercenaries who could not stop laughing at Soren´s situation, they even passed trough Ike, who like the others could not stop laughing. When they arrived at the training camp Mia took from a small box two wooden swords. The training camp was the biggest part of the mercenary fort, this is where the mercenaries trained every day. One part has targets (for the archers like Shinon and Rolf) the other has dummies, the torso of the dummies was a sack of sand and the head was a pumpkin, there were also a lot of trees. Mia tossed a sword at Soren and she started to show him the right way to wield a sword.

"Well, we are going to start with the basics, that´s why we are using wooden swords. The first thing you need to know is how to wield a sword. Like this."

"This is ridiculous! Is a waste of time!" Tough the sage was against this, he was doing exactly as told, and he wielded the sword, like Mia was showing him.

"Is not a was of time, you don´t know if one day the fact that you know how to figth with swords could save your life, and that´s the reason why you have such a weak body, you spend the rest of the day reading and you hardly eat something."

"Like I said is none of your concern. I rather train my brain that my body, and I only eat what my body needs."

"And again that´s the reason why you are so weak, you need a good training, I´m going to make sure that you learn the necessary." Said the sword master with a determination look in her face.

_"____I can´t believe that this is happening to me"_ thought the sage.

"You´ll never finish the training if you keep spacing out like that!" -Shouted the sword master bringing Soren back to reality.

"..." The sage was silent but he was doing everything Mia told him to do.

"You are not doing it bad, let´s try a vertical slash" Said the sword master, as she performed the vertical slash to show Soren how to do it.

"..." Soren tried to mimic her, but his slash was not as good as Mia´s.

"Not bad but" Mia stood next to Soren and then took his hands and put then the right way so he could do the slash better.

"W-What are you doing?" asked the sage, not being used to be touched by no one else than Ike, surprised him a little, but he regained his composure.

"Isn't it obvious? I´m trying to help you with the vertical slash" Answered Mia with a smile. "Ok let´s try again.

"All right." The sage tried to perform the vertical slash and he did it better this time.

"Not bad!. See you are learning!That´s all for today, you should keep practicing until you can do it right, you can go now." said the sword master as she started to train by her own.

After training time was over Soren went to the library he thought that there he will be able to read his book, he kept thinking that the training was a bad idea, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was so distracted that he didn't notice that Ike was behind him until he spoke to Soren.

"Hi Soren. How was the training? Did Mia treat you well?"

"Hello Ike. You very well know what I think about the training and it´s a waste of time." Answered the sage with a cold tone.

"Soren... Is for your own good, you need to know at leas the basics, all the bandits know that you are our strategist and will go after you, that´s why you need to be careful."

"I´m aware of that. But Ike you are conscious that swords are not my thing, and I don´t have much strength either".

"And that´s why I asked Mia to train you." answered Ike with a smirk.

"But why Mia? If you want me to learn how to fight with swords, why don´t you train me instead of her?" inquired the sage with that cold expression of his.

"Because you need to be less anti-social, you need to make more friends apart from me, and apart from em she´s the only one who can fight with swords in this company."

"Do you think that I will take this serious?"

"Soren... If you don´t do it for yourself then, do it for me. Just finish the training, and you are the one that is always saying that we need to learn new things." said the commander folding his arms around his chest.

"I will try, but I don´t promise anything."

"FOOD´S READY" shouted Boyd as he was running towards the dinning room.

"Is time to eat, we should talk later." the commander went to the dinning room and Soren went after him almost immediately.

It was lunch time and all the mercenaries were sitting on the table, with their respective plates (the lunch was roasted beef with some vegetables) everyone was eating peacefully, but Soren was the only one that hasn't touched his food.

"Soren are you feeling ok? You haven´t touched your food." asked Titania holding a glass of water.

"I am not hungry." answered the sage giving her the _look._

"And that´s why you are always so skinny."

"Is none of your business Mist. If I don´t want to eat is my problem not yours." the sage was using his harsh tone.

"You don´t have to be that mean! I was only worrying about you!"

"Please don´t start a fight! Is lunch time."

"All right, with your permission Ike I will excuse myself." The sage stood from his chair and went to his room, as soon as he leaves the room the others started to talk about him.

"That brat is so annoying" said Shinon taking a sip of his wine.

"Soren is a very intelligent person, but he needs to change that way of treating people, he needs to be less rude.." The paladin sighed.

"I know that he´s mean sometimes, but he´s a good person Titania."

"Just sometimes? That brat is annoying, I don´t care if he east his food or not." Said Shinon sarcastically.

"Excuse me." said a woman´s voice. "I don´t have much time in this company but I´m with the others, that person Soren is mean." The fire mage was trying to be careful with her words.

"Don´t worry about it Estella. Now changing the topic, remember that after lunch you have to do your chores, that´s all I´m going to my room." With this said the commander stood from his chair and went to his room.

"Aww man! I thought he forgot about it!"

"Shut up Boyd and finish your food." Titania snapped.

Soren was reading the spell book from the morning, but he couldn't´t focus at all, in he was thinking about the conversation he had with Ike in the library." _Ike is right maybe. I should try harder. But I don't think I can do much"_

Everyone was done with the chores and dinner time came, everyone was sitting on the table, Mist and Rolf talking about something, Shinon and Boyd fighting for a peace of meat and the others eating normally. For everyone´s surprised Soren was eating more food than he normally ate, he didn't speak with anyone, when he was done with his food he stood off his chair and went to his room.

"Did you guy see that? He ate..." Said a surprised Boyd.

"And not just that he ate more than he normally eats. Don´t you find it weird?"

"You are right Oscar, maybe we should leave him alone." said Titania.

"Good night." The commander finished his plate and then went to his room, but he was worried about Soren.

It was midnight and all the mercenaries except Soren, who got out of his room and tried to not make any sound, he was heading to the training camp, he took the wooden sword and for some reason started practicing the vertical slash, after he was done he practiced his wind magic and then went to sleep.

The next day Mia was ready for the training, she went to Soren´s room but didn't found him there, she was walking towards the hall and saw him in the training camp from the window, he was reading a book under a tree. She headed to the training camp and went to Soren´s direction.

"Hi Soren, you got here earlier" The sword master sounded happy.

"Well, if I do this faster than I will finish after."

"You sound more motivated!" The sword master took the wooden swords and gave Soren the other "So show me the vertical slash."

"All right" The sage performed a perfect slash.

"You did it! See? If your try harder than you came do it" Mia was happy because she could notice that Soren was taking this more seriously and that he was practicing, she got a little serious. "OK now that you know how to perform a vertical slash, is time to try the horizontal slash."

"I don´t see a problem with it" The sage did not smile, but his lips curved a little, almost showing a grin.

The morning went fast, this time Soren helped Mia clearing the area and then went to the library, he started to read the same book from the day before and suddenly he felt a presence behind him.

"Good morning, Ike" said the sage without making eye contact.

"Good morning Soren. How did you know it was me?"

"You are the only person that talks to me while I´m here."

"That´s true. Mia told me that you are trying harder. That´s good to hear."

"Not that I´m enjoying it. You know Ike, maybe this training is not a bad idea after all."

"FOOD´S READY!"

"We should go, is time to eat." said the commander scratching his head.

"You are right" The sage closed the book and went to the dinning room with Ike.

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AN: Ok hope you guys liked the chapter, I accept criticims, any question just PM me and please review and give me new ideas ;P


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Yeah I know what you guys are thinking, but it says on-hold, well not anymore, hope you enjoy this chapter BTW those are the last OC that join the Greil Mercenaries for a while. Thansk Mattyboy and Rapiz Razuri for their help they are awsome.

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**Chapter 5: A Little Prank**

It was Sunday, the only free day in the mercenary fort; this is the day that the mercenaries take a break. They don´t neither have missions nor need to do the chores, it is a day for resting, sleeping or reading. Some of the mercenaries practice their skills, some of them go to the town, and some stay in the fort. This was Soren's case, as he stays in the fort all day just reading and drinking tea, while the others are outside having fun or training.

Meanwhile Rolf and Rhys were in town. They spent the whole day buying things.

"You know Rhys everyone seems happy lately," said Rolf.

"Then that is a good thing, don't you think?" Rhys asked the green-haired youth.

"Yeah, but maybe it's just because it's Sunday" Murmured the young sniper. "Um... Rhys?"

"What's the matter Rolf?" The Bishop gave Rolf a warm smile.

"You know Oscar's birthday is almost here... and I was wondering if you could help me with his present, I want to buy something nice for him."

"It's all right Rolf; I'm going to help you with Oscar's present. I know how much it means to you. Son, don't worry."

"Thanks a lot Rhys!" Rolf was so happy that he hugged the Bishop.

After they were done with the Oscar's present, they were heading back to the fort. To get to the fort they needed to go trough a forest. This forest was not too long but it had a lot of trees. Rolf and Rhys were talking about Oscar's birthday and a lot of other things, when they were almost reaching the exit they found three people arguing about something, there where two girls and one boy. One of them was a little girl, she was shorter than Rolf (not that short though) she had blue eyes, pale skin; she had brown hair she had pigtails; she was wearing a blue dress, with some laces. The other one was a boy. He was taller than Rolf, he had the same hair and eye color as the little girl but his skin was tanner, he was wearing black pants and a blue shirt, he had shorter hair and it was spiky. The last one was a young woman around her twenties, she was different from the other two, she had straight blue hair, and yellow eyes, she was wearing a yellow top and short pants. The three had worried faces for some reason so Rhys decided to speak with them.

"Excuse me. Are you lost?" asked the red-haired bishop.

"Who are you?" asked the oldest of the three.

"We are the Greil Mercenaries; if you are lost we can help you" Answered Rolf a little nervous.

"Mercenaries? For real? Hey sis, these people could be a big help!" The younger girl spoke, for some reason she was excited.

"Yes you are right. I'm sorry for being so rude to you, my name is Luna and these are my siblings: Mimi and Luke"

"My name is Rhys I'm a Bishop and this is Rolf" Rhys introduced themselves.

"M-my name is Rolf, nice to meet you I'm an archer"

"If you want to, you could go with us to the fort, once we are there you can talk with our Commander about your troubles" Said Rhys leading the way.

"Thank you Rhys. Mimi and Luke, let's get going."

The three brother followed Rhys and Rolf all the way out of the forest. When they arrived to the fort Rhys told Ike about what happened. Ike decided to have a word with them and asked Rhys to lead them to the mess hall and asked Titania and Soren to accompany him.

"My name is Ike and I'm the Commander of the Greil Mercenaries, this is Titania the Deputy Commander" the blue-haired hero motioned the red-haired paladin. "And this is Soren my Strategist." The commander sat on the chair while he was watching the three siblings.

"My name is Luna, and these are my siblings Luke and Mimi. Actually we are here because we need a favor to ask of you" Luna had a serious expression on her face.

"What kind of favor?" Asked Soren, for some reason he didn't trust them.

"Actually, my brother and I are looking for a job so we decided to join a mercenary company, we heard that you are good and we thought we could join you. Of course if that isn't a problem for you."

"I understand. What can you do?" Asked Ike while folding his arms around his chest.

"I can use bows, I have very good eyesight, my sis here can wield swords she's very skilled and my brother is a thunder mage" Mimi sounded very excited when she answered Ike's question.

"They seem to be very skilled commander and I think letting them join isn't a bad idea." Titania was happy for some unknown reason.

"It is a good idea, we don't have too many jobs at the moment but you are welcome to join. What do you think Soren?" Ike asked the wind sage.

"I'm not sure, I don't trust these people, however my opinion doesn't count that much. It is all up for you to decide, commander" Answered Soren some bitterness in his voice.

"Very well then, Soren call the others so they can meet the new members"

"..." Soren didn't like this idea. "Understood" and with that Soren took his leave.

Meanwhile the other members were in the training camp. Shinon and Rolf were practicing with their bows, Mia and Boyd were sparring (she convinced Boyd to spar with her for a while) Rhys and Mist were there with staff in hand just in case, Estella was practicing her fire magic and Gatrie was running. Suddenly Soren arrived and let's just say he didn't have the happiest expression in the world. Of course, no one has ever seen Soren with a smile.

"Hey Soren," Yelled Boyd "What's with that face?"

"..." Soren didn't answer Boyd's question instead he gave him the _look._

"Okay brat listen to me, if you don't tell us what you want, one of my arrows will go through your head." threatened Shinon.

"With that aim of yours I doubt that something something like that could happen." Soren gave Shinon the _look _he was getting ready in the case that Shinon wanted to shoot him.

"Who do you think you are? Damn brat you'll pay for that!" Shinon was getting angrier, he was getting ready to shoot Soren.

"..." The sage opened his book and started to chant a spell.

"Stop it! Boyd! Gatrie! Do something please!" Mist was starting to get scared she thought that they will kill each other.

Suddenly Gatrie was pulling Shinon and Boyd was carrying Soren on his shoulders, then he deposited him away from Shinon's sight.

"Boyd you didn't need to get in our way, this was between me and Shinon," said the black-haired sage with anger.

"Come on man don't be that cold I just saved your butt," said Boyd with a questionable look on his face.

"Soren, did you want to tell us something?" Asked Rhys before something bad could have possibly happened.

"Ike wants to see you all in the mess hall." When the sage was finished he headed back to the mess hall.

"That damn brat, he'll pay for this!" murmured Shinon.

The others went to the mess hall as well and then sat on some chairs.

"Now that everyone's here I'm going to introduce your new companions, their names are Luna, Luke and Mimi. I hope you can get along with them."

The other members were staring at their new companions; it didn't take so long for them to realize that they were good people. Mist and Mia got along pretty well with little Mimi, Rolf became friends with Luke (It was nice to have someone around his age here) and Luna started to chat with Rhys and Titania Soren wasn't comfortable with his new companions he was giving them the evil eye, especially to Mimi. It was time for dinner; Luna said that she liked all of the members of the Greil Mercenaries, as she was glad that she joined them. After dinner Soren stood from his chair and went to his room.

"What's wrong with him?" asked one of the mercenaries.

"You don't need to worry about him." answered Boyd, while he was chewing.

"Boyd, you should swallow your food before speaking, it's grotesque." Oscar was scolding his brother. Boyd ignored what Oscar had said, leaving Oscar to shake his head in hopelessness.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mimi with a serious face. "That guy was giving me an evil look, like he hates me or something."

"It's not your fault, Soren is always like that you don't need to worry about him" Mist tried to make her feel better.

"It's all right" said Mimi smiling "_I don't like the way he was looking at me, he'll see what I can do."_

After dinner Shinon asked both Boyd and Gatrie to wait for him in the training camp, when he arrived he saw them talking about something.

"I'll make this short; I'm planning to play a prank on that brat Soren. Who is with me?" Shinon asked.

"You know what; I'm with you just this once. Soren needs a lesson, said Boyd with a smirk.

"We need to scare him a little. What do you have in mind," Gatrie asked Shinon.

"I want to help too!" exclaimed Mimi out of nowhere.

"You were prying!" Gatrie was scolding her but Shinon spoke.

"You are going to help us kid? Why?" asked the sniper with a curious expression on his face.

"One: That guy Soren was it? Was giving me evil looks and two: I like to play pranks to others. It's sort of my hobby." answered the girl with an evil smile.

"Very well then," Shinon smirked "This is what we are going to do." Shinon then explained his plan to everyone that was with him.

It was midnight and all the mercenaries were sleeping but Soren and the prank group. Soren was organizing some papers. He was trying to finish his task earlier because he wasn't feeling that good, and he had a headache and felt kind of dizzy. Then he heard someone knock on his door, he stood from his desk and opened the door.

"I don't have time for you what is it?" Soren asked bitterly.

"Please come with me you need to see something!" The girl was pulling Soren so hard that he almost fell. "Come on!"

"..." Soren didn't like children; he always thought that they were a waste of time. He thought that they were not ready for a mercenary life and they were annoying too, but he needed to finish his work and needed some rest, so he decided to make it quick and follow her.

"It's here! Look there's something weird inside," said Mimi.

"Here?" Soren asked, arching an eyebrow. "This is where we keep the wines and some weapons." The sage simply stated.

"But there is something weird!" The girl was giving him a scary face.

Soren decided to check the place. He entered the room and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, when suddenly someone closed the door leaving Soren inside. When he tried to open the door he heard Shinon from the other side laughing.

"You better open the door," warned Soren.

"Not a chance you'll stay here all night," Shinon said with a laugh.

"Let's get going, Shinon before someone finds out." Gatrie said.

"Okay, let's get going guys." And with that, Shinon and the others disappeared from that area.

"I can't believe I fell for it…" Soren said to himself, then letting out a sigh. For under an hour he had tried to call for help but no one could hear him, so he decided to wait until morning. He wasn't feeling that well but he decided to sleep and see if his headache would leave him.

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**AN:** So what do you think? Good, bad, Ok? I need to tell you guys that I'll update monthly, but if I feel like it, I could update sometime sooner so I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Hey there people! I know it has been a while, but, here I am with another chapter.

Disclamer: I really need to remember to put this. "I don't own fire emblem and if I did *laughs like a maniac* }=D *ahem*

Thanks to** MattyBoy91 **for checking this chapter and to my other readers. Enjoy chapther #6

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**CHAPTER 6: A NEW REQUEST**

It was morning and all the mercenaries made their typical tasks, all but Soren, who was locked in the cellar.

"Today is a peaceful day, I hope we get new missions, we need more money." Ike said as he looked out a nearby window.

"Ike!" Mia exclaimed as she ran over to him.

"What is it, Mia? You don't need to shout," the commander stared at the swordsmistress with a straight face.

"Sorry. It's just that I can't find Soren! I have searched all around the fort and I didn't have any luck! I asked Oscar and he says that he hasn't seen him since last night."

"Maybe he is hiding from you." said a certain bluehaired girl with a playful smirk.

"Luna! Do you know where Soren is?" Ike asked, half-worried for his friend.

"No, I don't know. I haven't seen him since last night," Luna said.

"He's probably locked in his room again," the commander said, while standing from the chair he was sitting on. He then went to the door. "I'll see if he is in his room."

Ike went to Soren's room, which was one of the last in the hallway. He knocked on Soren's door but didn´t receive an answer.

Ike decided to go in his room after not being answered. He went in but didn't find the sage, so he thought that his friend would have gone into town to buy something. So he shut the bedroom door and went to the dining room where he met Titania, Mist, and Oscar.

"Titania. Have you seen Soren today," Ike asked with a serious tone.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday, Ike. Why do you ask," Titania asked with curiosity.

"Mia got tired of looking for him. She searched the whole fort and didn't found him." Ike then sat in a nearby chair thinking and then got an idea. "Maybe he went to town to buy a book or something. But, it's weird because if he was going to town, he would have told me about it."

"You are right; he always tells you when he's going to leave the fort. I wonder what happened." Oscar said while he was preparing a meal.

"Oscar's right. I wonder if something happened to him." Mist said, trying to not worry her brother. "Well it is almost lunchtime, time to call the others." Then she began to serve the drinks.

It was past lunchtime and Soren was still missing. He didn't even show up to eat. It was clearly bothering Ike .The wind sage didn't skip meals that often, and if he did, he would have told Ike that he wasn't going to eat. The commander called all mercenaries to gather in the mess hall.

"I think you know why I have called you all." Ike said with his muscular arms crossed. "Do any of you know what has happened to Soren?" Some looked at him with doubt, while the four accomplices of the joke were casting nervous glances. This alerted the commander, and he approached them to look at them into their eyes. "Well, you know something, don't you?" The commander was waiting for an answer. And to everyone's surprise the first one to answer was Shinon.

"Okay, I think that enough time has passed." He was very relaxed, this made Ike doubt as he arched an eyebrow. "Well I'll tell you, Ike." Shinon said while letting out a fake yawn. "Well, what happened is that between Gatrie, Boyd, the little girl sitting with the blueharied girl over there, and I played a little prank to the shrimp."

"You what?" Ike was shocked. "Tell me where is he! Now!" Ike's glare was one that could kill someone with a small constitution. Then he moved to lift Shinon by the shirt. "If something bad happens to him I swear I'll make you regret it!"

"We locked him the cellar and he spent the whole night there," little Mimi felt guilty so she decided to tell the Commader.

"In the cellar? But there's very little air in there! He might choke!" Mist exclaimed horrified.

"I'll be back soon. I´ll deal with you later." The commander glared at the acomplices, then he stood and exited the room, he went directly to the cellar. When he reached it, he pulled a key from his pockets and opened the door.

Once that he was inside, he was shocked to see his long life friend lying on the floor unconscious. "Soren!" The commader cried. His robes were covered with dust, and he looked very pale with a bad fever.

"I'll have to take him to Rhys," he said to himself as he lifted Soren and put him on his back. Then he put the sage's hands around his neck and his legs around his waist (also known as a piggy-back ride). He then went to the living room where all the mercenaries were sitting. He walked through the door and went to Rhys who could not hide the look of surprise on his face.

"Rhys, Soren has a fever and is pale." Ike said as he laid Soren's body on the couch.

"Let me check him." The bishop laid a hand on the sage's forehead. "He's burning with a fever. Ike, Oscar, please take him to his room. Titania, could you go get a cloth and a bucket of water?"

"Okay," Ike agreed without hesitation. He then glared at Shinon.

"I hope for your own sake that is not too serious, Shinon." The commader carried Soren's body the same way which had led him to the living room, followed behind both Oscar and Rhys.

Then they went to the tactician's room. Ike laid him on top of his bed. With the help of Oscar they changed Soren's clothes.

"He has a cold, but it's has been made worse because the time he spent in the cellar." The bishop said while he faced the commander.

"Is he going to be okay?" Ike asked as Titania came in with the cloth and warm water.

"Here are the clothes, Rhys. If you need more you know where to find me." Titania said and excused herself from Soren's room.

"Don't worry, Ike." Rhys said as he put a cloth on the sage's forehead. He just needs some rest, let him rest for a few days and he'll be good as new."

"Okay, but knowing Soren I can assure you that he will want to get to back to work as soon as he wakes up." Ike said as he let out a small chuckle. He knew Soren since they were kids and he knows how stubborn the sage is.

"By the way, Rhys. Why did Soren get a cold?" Titania said as she came back to the room. She was leaning on the door with arms crossed around her chest.

"Soren works day and night; he stays up very late and barely eats. I can tell that he's very weak" The bishop replied with a concerned face. "If he eats better, I'm sure that he won't get sick again so quickly. However, it seems that the fever has started to fade. You'd better let him rest." The three left the room. Rhys then went to the washroom, as he had a pile of clothes waiting for him to wash. Oscar went to the kitchen to help Mist with the dinner and Ike decided to go talk to the four accomplices.

"You are lucky that this is just a cold, but you are not spared from your punishment," Ike said as he entered the mess hall door. "This month I'm going to cut your salary in half and you will have to do some extra work." As Ike announced their punishment, the accomplices complained. For Shinon and Gatrie, it meant that they would be forced to postpone their nights of drinking.

"Sorry," The accomplices quickly apologized with frowns on their faces. But Shinon only snorted.

"How is Soren?" Mimi asked as she felt guilty. But not so guilty as to stop playing pranks.

"He'll be fine, he just needs rest." The commander put his hand on the girl's shoulder as he made his way to his room.

"Okay, Mimi, get ready for your punishment," Luna said as she looked at the girl with a serious expression on her face. She took the girl to goddess knows where.

It was already late and all the mercenaries were busy. When Soren began to awaken, he opened his eyes and realized that he was in his room. The mage sat on his bed as he tried to remember what had happened. He then recalled that he got locked in the cellar by Shinon and his pals.

The mage cursed in ancient tongue and swore he would have vengeance. Suddenly, the door of his room opened. It was Mia who requested permission to enter and then went to talk with the sage with a happy expression on her face.

"Hey there, Soren! How are you feeling," Mia asked.

"... A little dizzy," The mage wasn't looking at her, and was surprised to see someone else in his room, someone who wasn't Ike. "What are you doing here?" Soren asked and the swordmistress grinned.

"To see how you are doing. I'm glad that you're okay.." The sage's eyes widen a little; he wasn't expecting that answer.

Smiling, Mia said, "I hope you get better soon so you can continue sparring." The swordswoman put a hand on the shoulder of the sage. "I'll tell Ike that you are awake." Mia left the room while Soren was caught up in his own thoughts. After a few minutes Ike arrived with a bowl of soup in his hands.

"I see you've woken up. How do you feel?" Ike placed the bowl of soup on top of one of Soren's night tables.

"I feel better." The sage used his typical monotonous tone.

"Rhys says that you need at least two days off, and you need to eat well." Ike put the bowl in Soren's lap. "Here, I brought you some soup. You'd better eat it."

"Okay." The sage let go of a long sigh and began to eat the soup. After a short moment of consuming the hot soup Soren spoke up again. "Ike, Did you send Mia to check on me?"

"No, is something wrong Soren," Ike asked his friend. The sage shook his head and kept eating the soup. "Don't worry about Shinon and the others, they received their punishment."

"I see." Ike then went to the door and decided to let Soren rest some more.

Three days had passed and Soren had recovered. He had then decided to go back to his training session with Mia.

"I'm glad to know that you already feel better, and you're tying harder this time!" Mia was grinning.

"...Thanks." The sage replied in a tone somewhat grateful. Mia stared at him wide-eyed. She stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "Why are you looking at me like that?" The sage arched an eyebrow.

"It's nothing! "Said the swordswoman. "It's just that I've never heard you say thanks to someone before." She grinned and gripped her sword. "Well, less talk and more action, maybe now you can kill someone with that sword."

"I have an idea." Soren said with a serious expression.

"And what's that, Soren?" Mia asked in a curious tone.

"Since you have insisted that I use a sword. I thought that you should learn magic from me." Soren stared at her waiting for a response.

"Magic?" Mia said with some thought. "I don't think that's my thing." She then put her hands on her hips.

"So you reject my proposal?" The sage asked. He then tried to find a way to convince her. He wasn't even sure why he proposed that in the first place. Suddenly he remembered that Mia likes to compete. "How about a little competition?" He didn't show, but his usual serious and cold voice had a playful tone.

"Sure! So, what are we going to compete over?" Mia asked with piqued interest.

"You´ll keep teaching me how to use swords, and I'll teach you how to use magic. The first one to finsh the lessons will be the winner, and the loser will have to do as the winner says for a whole day." He used his monotonous tone agian, but Mia gave him a thumbs up. It caused the sage to raise an eyebrow at Mia.

"Alright, let's do it! I can assure you that I won't lose. This is going to be fun!" Mia said excitedly.

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**AN:** I want to know what people think about Soren teaching mafic to Mia, don't kill me guys XD. I will try to update more often too.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **Chapter 7 is here after a while. So you´ll see Mia´s first magic lesson XD. Thanks a lot to **MattyBoy91 **for editing it. Enjoy! ^^

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**Chapter**** 7: Worries**

A week had already passed since Soren had the accident with the cellar. All the mercenaries returned to their daily activities, meanwhile Soren and Mia had disappeared in the forest to their training sessions.

"You are taking the training lessons seriously!" The swordswoman grinned as she was blocking Soren's blow with her sword.

"I will not lose." In the past days, Soren had been motivated. Especially after they made the deal.

"I never knew you were that competitive!" Mia let out a small chuckle. "That's enough for today, now I think it would be a good time to teach me how to use magic."

"Understood" The sage takes out three books, a green one, a red one and a yellow book. "Which one interests you most?" Soren asked with a neutral face.

"Ummm..." The swordmistress stares at him doubtfuly. "Which one is better?"

"That depends. Fire Magic is effective against tigers and cats, the thunder is effective against dragons and wyverns, and wind is very effective against any flying unit. It is also important to know their weaknesses, the magic of fire is stronger than the wind, wind is stronger than the thunder and the thunder is stronger against fire. Those are the basics that any mage should know." He said this without stopping or taking a break.

"One question." With her hands on her hips. "Soren, why do you like wind magic that much?" Not that she hasn't seen him use fire or thunder, but he used wind the most.

"It's not that I like it." Soren started with his cold and calculating voice. "It's more comfortable for me, fire magic makes me slower, as for thunder, I feel strange using it, is as if my body..." Mia stared at him waiting for an answer, but he quickly changed the subject. "Which one are you going to choose?"

"Wind magic!" Almost screaming. "It' would be easier for you to teach me that one."

Soren shot her a glare. "You don't need to scream like that. I can heard you from here." He then handed her a book, with the title "wind".

"Soren, you need to have some fun!" The swordswoman opened the book and stared at it with a blank expression.

"I forgot to tell you that in order to leran magic, you need to know some of ancient language."

"Soren, what does it say right here?" Mia stared at Soren then at the book and then at the sage, again waiting for an answer.

"I memorized it contents, however in order to cast magic you need to read the spell." The sage walked in Mia's direction and took the book from her and chanted the spell. _**"Phasmatis of ventus, ego dico ut thee, per thyne vox permissum is exsisto." **_A green wave of air came from the book and hit the nearest tree.

"This is going to be so fun!" Mia was a little excited about their magic lessons, but what thrilled her the most was that she was getting to know the sage a little better. Since he was a quiet person and only talked to people when he had to do inventory and he hated people, it was interesting to talk with him when he wasn't doing his work. "Oh, what did you say? I can't learn magic if I don't understand what I'm saying."

"Ghost of wind, I to say when thee, very thyne cry to allow this to emerge. It's not the exact translation, but it is close. I will teach you how to read it and then you will aim at that tree." The sage aimed at the same tree that he shot his spell a while ago. After of what it seemed hours, the swordmaster mastered the words of the first wind spell. "You already know how to read the spell, but that doesn't means that you won't need to learn some ancient language." Soren stared in Mia's direction and noticed that she was focused on the tome, something that she did when she was getting ready to hit an enemy with her sword. "Very well, try to hit the tree. It doesn't matter if you don't it right because is your first try, but you must know that magic is hard to handle. So, be careful where you aim."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me Soren!" The sage didn't say anything, he just nodded. The swordmistress walked away from the tree to have a better aim, she opened the tome and chanted the spell. "_**Phasmatis of ventus, ego dico ut thee, per thyne vox permissum is exsisto." **_Of course it wasn't perfect because it was her first time, but it was decent. The chanting part was okay, but what happened next was a disaster. As the green wave of wind was coming out of the book, Mia lost control and the wave hit Soren. It was weak, so it just waved his hair and robes a little. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

The sage nodded. "If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a mage and have a high resistance, then I would have been blown away." If this was with wind magic, Soren didn't want to think about the fact that he had to teach her fire and thunder later. "That's enough for today. We should get back to the fort." Mia nodded and helped Soren with the cleaning.

The others mercenaries were doing their chores, Mist was in the library organizing some books that Soren had bought the day before. Boyd was sweeping the yard as usual. Oscar and Ike were in the kitchen. Shinon kept cleaning the bathrooms, though once in a while he would snap at people. Gatrie swept the halls and Rhys was waiting for Titania to come back from town. Mimi and Rolf were training with their bows, Luna was nowhere to be found, and Estella was teaching Luke how to use fire magic properly. Oscar was in the kitchen teaching Ike how to prepare chicken, a task that the commader didn't like that much, especially for the fact that they had to kill the chicken first. Titania suddenly came with a smile on her face and went to Ike.

"Something good happened Titania? You look happy." The commander stopped chopping the chicken to pay attention to her.

"Yes. Queen Elincia wishes to see us. Apparently she has a mission for us." She handed the message to Ike.

"Elincia wants to see us?" He smiled. "It's been so long since the last time we were in Melior! We need money, and Elincia is a friend of ours. Of course we'll help her! Titania, I want all the mercenaries in the living room." Said redhead nodded.

"Actually," A voice interrumped them. "I think that we should wait for Soren and Mia to come back. They are in the forest." Oscar said to the hero.

"Oscar is right, for some reason Soren is taking his training sessions very seriously. Maybe he likes to spar with Mia." He let out a small chuckle. "We will wait for Soren and Mia and then tell the others that I want them in the living room, we need to talk about the mission. Until they come back you are free to do as you like."

"I think I will help Rhys, he is doing laundry again." Titania said and left the room.

"Well commander, we should continue with the chicken." The green haired paladin handed Ike a knife, and he shrugged.

"I don't feel comfortable doing this, but I'll see what I can do," Ike said reluctantly.

In training camp Rolf and Mimi were training with their bows and near the dummies Estella and Luke were training with magic. Rolf and Mimi had become friends, since Mimi thought of Shinon as a teacher and he accepted her as a pupil. Mime watched as Rolf launched an arrow right into the bull's eye of a target a few yards away.

"Wow! Rolf, that was awsome!" Mimi clapped.

"Thank you. I supossed that uncle Shinon taught me well," Rolf said with a smile.

"He sure did! And he's an expert in playing pranks on others. Like the other day. That mage deserved it." The little girl had an evil smirk on her face, Rolf was pretty sure that she was planning something yet again.

"M-Mimi? Do you really like to play pranks that much?" The girl nodded, the evil smirk still on her face. The green haired sniper backed off a little.

"Of course!" She exclaimed. "Hey, Rolf. Do you know where Shinon is?"

"I think that he is still cleaning the toilets. Why do you ask?"

"Hee hee hee! You´ll see." And the evil smirk was back again, it was starting to scare Rolf. "Come on." The little girl dragged poor Rolf back to the fort.

Meanwhile Estella and Luke just stared at both Mimi and Rolf.

"What are they up to?" He asked his new teacher with a tone of annoyance.

"I don't know, and it's probably better if we don't find out." Said the older of the two.

"Estella?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"Umm ... How did you become so skillful in fire magic? It's just so difficult for me to control it." Luke said in a tone of resignation.

"I'm not that good!" She got a little embarrassed. "Actually, Soren is better than me."

"It is true, he is good with wind magic, but you are really good with fire."

"Thanks, I guess. If you want to, I can continue to train you. By the way, how old are you?"

"I'm fourteen." The young mage answered with some pride.

"You are young. And your sisters?"

"Mimi is eleven and Luna turned twenty five. How old are you, Estella?" Luke was curious, especially because she looked very young.

"I'm twenty." She smiled. "Interesting, you are the middle brother too... We are so much alike."

"We are?"

"Yes..." The blonded got distracted remembering things form her past, things that she didn't want any of them to find out, ever.

"In what sense?" Luke asked.

"Well, I have two siblings, a younger brother and an older sister. Their names are Alex and Alice. I miss them..." Luke sensing the older mage's distraction decided to change the topic.

"... Can we keep training?"

"Sure. We are going to practice the basics, that way you will learn how to control fire better." The young boy nodded.

Shinon was in the bathroom cleaning the toilets when he suddenly saw his two pupils coming through the door.

"What are you doing here?" Shinon asked with some annoyance.

"Actually, I have a good idea. I think it will be a good prank." Mimi was scary and it made people wonder what kind of things passed through her head. Rolf was pretty sure that she had a cruel idea or two.

"I'm listening." Shinon smirked, that was something that he only did when he was entertained. It seems that he liked that idea.

Lunchtime arrived and Shinon, Mimi and Rolf (the last one came along against his will) remained in the living room to review the plan. Mimi had a bottle in her pockets and walked into the kitchen where there was only Ike, chopping some carrots for the soup he was preparing.

"Mimi? What brings you here?" Asked the commander as he took another carrot.

"Well... I just wanted to know what time the food will be ready. We're hungry." Replied Mimi inventing an excuse.

"Oscar went to the town to get some missing ingedients, but the soup is almost ready." Ike answered.

"Can I have a quick taste?" Mimi asked. She put on an innocent face in hopes that Ike would buy it.

"All right." The little girl took the spoon and went to the soup and tasted it, it was delicious but that wasn't the reason why she went to the kitchen. She took a chance when Ike left the kitchen, and took the bottle from her pocket which was labeled as : **"Hot Sauce"**. She opened it and poured into the soup, then took the spoon and started to stir up the soup. She then threw the spoon into the sink just in time because Ike came back with Oscar who brought the missing ingredients.

"Did you try it?" Ike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. It was delicious... Umm I have to go now." She left the kitchen in the blink of an eye and left Ike thinking about her strange behavior.

After a while, Soren and Mia came back from their training sessions. The sage was carrying his three tomes and Mia had a sword sheathed on her waist and was holding another one in her hands.

"So you finally decided to come. I was wondering what you two were doing out there that took you so long." Shinon was leaning against the living room's walls and Rolf just stared at them with his mouth closed.

"That is none of your business, Shinon." Soren said with a frown. It was no secret that the two mercenaries hated each other.

"We were just training." Added Mia to prevent them from starting a fight right there.

"Food's ready." Oscar shouted.

All mercenaries sat at the table, with the exception of Ike, Mist, and Oscar who were serving the food. After serving the food, Ike told the other mercenaries to meet him after lunch in the mess hall since they already ate in the living room and had to clean. He told them that he had something important to tell them and then began to eat. Suddenly he started to hear some coughing, especially from Rolf.

"O-Oscar... The S-Soup is too H-Hot!" Rolf blurted out between coughs.

"Yes, it is very hot." Mist said. She then stood from the table to get a glass of water and some bread to go along with her soup.

"Ike, did you put hot sauce in the soup?" Asked Oscar with a curious look on his face.

"No. The kids aren't used to hot food." Ike answered.

Then Soren and Rhys started to cough a lot and asked for a glass of water. Mist quickly brough it to them "...That's better." Soren glared at the soup. "But who put the hot sauce in the soup then?"

"I know who was the resposible for this." Ike said while staring at Mimi. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry." Mimi said and lowered her gaze.

"What am I going to do with this girl?" Luna sighed and stood from the table, dragging Mimi along with her.

"It's better if I say it now, before something else happens. We are going to Melior to visit Queen Elicia. She wishes to speak with us." Ike announced to the mercenaries.

"No way!" Exclaimed Boyd.

"When are we leaving, boss?" Mia asked.

"Tomorrow morning. Be sure to pack everything you need, because this mission is going to be a long one."

At night all the mercenaries were in their rooms packing their things. Soren was happy (even if he didn't show it) that the queen has a mission for them, but he felt uneasy about something.

"_I have a bad feeling." _He thought, while he was packing his robes. _"I know that it's just a mission, but something is bothering me..." _He took some tomes as well. _"Why I am worrying so much? This is ilogical." _When he finished packing his things, he went to bed to try to get some sleep, but coudn't doze off. It was midnight and Soren was still awake, he got up from his bed and exited his room.

He was going to the library to get a book, if he couldn't sleep, at least he would spend the rest of the night reading. He was a little distracted, so he didn't notice when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Are you okay?" Asked a familiar voice. When Soren noticed who it was he answered.

"Yes, Ike. I'm alright. I was just distracted." He replied with a cool tone.

"Distracted? Soren are you sure that you are okay? It's not like you to get distracted so easily. Is something wrong?" Ike was concerned about his friend, he knew better than anyone that Soren didn't talk about his personal problems, he dealt with them alone. That had worried the young commander.

"Actually..." The sage didn't want to worry Ike, because Ike was his only true friend. In a moment, Ike asked again.

"Something is worrying you?" Ike said while folding his arms. "Soren. You are my friend, you know that you can trust me, so tell me. What is worrying you?"

"I have a bad feeling, more like something bad is going to happen, but it's just a guess, we shouldn't worry about trivial things like that."

"It's not 'something trivial' if it has you so worried. Are you sure?"

"Yes, Ike. I'm sure."

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure that nothing happens to you. I don't think that this mission is so dangerous, plus it's late and we have to go early tomorrow so go get some rest." The commander put his hand on the shoulder of his friend and dismissed himself. "Goodnight, Soren."

"Good night, Ike." They both parted ways, Soren went to the library to get a book and then brought it back to his room. He laid on his back and after a while dozed off.

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**AN: **And the mercenaries are going to Melior! New missions yays! Hope that you guys really liked this chapter! Also for those who are interested go to read chapters 1 and 2 that have been edited. See ya next time and remember: **REVIEW! **


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